Team Ethereal: May Tasks
by Flipper Boid Skua
Summary: My Pokemon Rescue team goes on their first official mission! Aura the Abra and Hallow the Shedinja must rescue some baby Shroomish and fix up a building in ruins. All the while, they have to ward off the hostile attentions of the Drifloon, who are always on alert for any opportunity at kidnapping. Please R&R! ONE-SHOT


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. That is all, thank you!

I've decided to share all (or most) of my characters' Rescue adventures here on this site. This one being my first official entry made for the month of May. Enjoy!

* * *

"This is great!" Aura chirped as she slurped up an entire bowl of noodles, Mon Mon refilling the young Abra's empty cup of tea. Gulping down the tea so eagerly that she almost leaned out of her chair, Aura beamed and she set the cup down as the Lickilicky collected her now-empty soup bowl.

"Would you like any desserts, sweetie?" Mon Mon asked, earning an even bigger grin from the little Psychic-type.

"Yes, ma'am. A dozen Oran Berry Mochi please!" she squeaked, waiting patiently as Mon Mon walked off. Looking over to the door as it opened, she waved as a Shedinja floated in. "Over here, Hallow!"

Said ghostly bug turned towards her voice before flying over to her table, hovering over the seat across her.

"Anything new on the Task board?" she asked cheerfully, the husk in front of her leaning forward a bit in a nod before turning around. Reaching across the table, Aura rummaged inside the empty shell before pulling out some papers. Setting said papers on the table as Hallow turned back to her, she scanned the hand-written requests.

"They're all pretty much in and around Sapling Village," the Shedinja informed her and she smiled.

"Good, that'll make all this easier," the Abra replied. "We probably can't get them all done, but we can certainly give it a try. Now let's see here..."

She carefully began to contemplate the Tasks set out. One was about dealing with a shady Scraggy selling illegal berries, where force would more than likely be necessary to evict him. Another was fixing the run-down building that was Barty's Bluff and snapping some sense into the Drifloon that once worked there, all of whom were now beginning to kidnap the local children to take them to places unknown. And the last was rescuing a group of baby Shroomish that got lost in the woods and bring them home before the rogue Drifloon catches them.

The Abra's ears lowered in sympathy. "Aw, those poor little Shroomies, all alone and left to fend for themselves. I think we should definitely make that one our priority."

Looking up as Mon Mon returned with the mochi, Aura was surprised to see the dessert in a To-Go box. Smiling sweetly at the bewildered Abra, the Lickilicky cooed out her words in amusement. "I heard you were looking into some Tasks, so I prepared your mochi for the trip."

"Oh!" Aura interjected. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, child," Mon Mon nodded. "Good luck."

Both giving nods of appreciation, they left the building to step into the night air outside. Glancing at the Task papers, Aura distractedly placed her mochi container within her friend's body before looking about their surroundings as her mind worked out a plan. "Okay, so the little guys are somewhere in Creeping Forest. We can go find them and return them to Shroomsworth." She sighed, her ears lowering a bit as she slumped. "I'm not so sure about the Scraggy dude or the Drifloon."

With the exclusion of Hallow and his kind, she wasn't particularly fond of Ghost Pokemon, as they tended to be rather mean to her. Her past experience with a malicious Haunter certainly didn't help matters. She's never met Drifloon in person before, but she had no real reason to believe they were any different. And with Scraggy being part Dark-type, she knew both of them would be at a heavy disadvantage. But she didn't want to feel selfish in refusing those missions and she looked to her companion for his opinions.

"As much as I dislike saying it, we would have to leave the Scraggy to somebody else more capable," the Shedinja told her in no uncertain terms, helping in the reinforcement of her position. "Your attacks won't have much, if any effect on him, and although I have X-Scissor for normal damage, I'd be too vulnerable."

"And Scraggy are much too aggressive to reason with," Aura added with an agreeing nod. "A fight would be inevitable."

"Exactly," Hallow responded. "As for the Drifloon, we have a much better chance of succeeding as they tend to be pretty reasonable, so if you can get pass your fear enough to rebuild the Bluff, then we can pull it off."

"Yeah, probably…" Aura muttered half-heartedly, not particularly liking the idea, but unable to argue against it.

Taking a deep breath, the young Abra pictured the Creeping Forest in her mind and with a flash of white light, they vanished as if they were never there at all. An instant later, within the depths of Creeping Forest, they reappeared and looked about to gather their bearings.

"Okay, now the hard part," she started. She reached out mentally, sweeping for any life-forms. There were some Pidgey and Ariados in the area, along with a pack of Sneasel a couple of miles southeast. Wary of that, but choosing to ignore them, she sorted through the psychic signatures of each Pokemon she sensed. But none were Shroomish in nature.

Sighing, she turned to her partner. "Here's the plan: you search from above, just below the canopy. I'll do a ground sweep. We'll meet back here in an hour."

Hallow flashed his halo in acknowledgement before the two went their separate ways. As Aura hurried deeper into the dark forest, she relied heavily on her mental scanning, supplemented with her sense of smell. Although she wasn't tired for once, she didn't bother opening her eyes as the forest was too dark to really see clearly.

It didn't matter regardless, as she wasn't having too much success and every passing moment brought her confidence lower. She was about to try going in another direction when something flashed within her mind, a ghostly signature she didn't recognize. Tensing fearfully, she lowered to all fours, practically pinning herself to the ground in her attempt to hide in the undergrowth. The ghosts were getting closer at a fast clip and she was about teleport when the sources of her stress flew passed from overhead.

Drifloon.

Calming her racing heart, she watched the balloons disappear from sight, all heading in the same direction with great intent. Suspicious, as she has read on their kidnapping habits, she pushed passed her fear and began to follow after them. Wherever they were headed, it couldn't be good…

* * *

Hallow flew steadily throughout the canopy, his halo shining through the darkness although light wasn't truly necessary for him to see. Scanning the ground below him, he was more patient and thorough than his partner in his search, not feeling disheartened by his lack of success so far.

He's spotted many Pokemon from his aerial view, but paid no real attention to them. Whenever he saw subtle movement from the undergrowth, he did hover closer to the ground, but discredited it almost the instant he saw that the source wasn't what he was looking for. Luckily, he wasn't put off from that method despite its repeated failure, and it eventually paid off when he spotted a glimmer of motion from within a hollow tree.

Of course, Hallow lowered towards the ground, the shadows of the vegetation below him shifting from his glowing crescent. His empty eyes taking in the source of the movement, he felt a wave of accomplishment as a bunch of little Shroomish stared out at him. However, it was quickly evident that they were frightened of him, whimpering as they huddled together.

One movement forward and the kids cringed, some beginning to cry.

"It's alright." The Shedinja spoke in a soft and reassuring tone. But the children merely cringed again.

"Don't look at its back!" one of them shrieked to his comrades. "It'll eat you!"

"Not if I can help it!" one of the bolder ones exclaimed, faking bravado as he attempted to use Absorb to protect his friends. But with a simple flash of his halo, Hallow's Wonder Guard automatically shielded the Shed Pokemon from the attack, the insect making no real movement himself. This got the kids to panic even more and the rest in turn began to sob.

Unable to give them a sympathetic expression, Hallow tried again to verbally reassure them. "I'm not going to hurt you," he told them gently, making no further advancement so as not to further frighten them. "I'm here to take you home."

"Don't believe it!" the lead Shroomish whimpered. "It's trying to trick us!"

"WE'RE GONNA GET EATED!" another one shrieked.

"I knew sneaking out was a bad idea!" a third one yelled at the others, blaming them for this misfortune.

"Shhh," Hallow shushed soothingly, reasoning with the scared little kids. "I'm not gonna eat any of you. The souls of children are not something I desire. Even if it was, don't you think if I was hungry, I would've turned around by now?"

Sniffling, the little Grass-types watched the husk carefully, at least quieting down as they considered the ghost's words. But they still refused to budge from their hiding place and Hallow was about to make another coaxing attempt when movement from behind caught his attention.

Snapping around, he saw a Shadow Ball rushing right for him. His instincts wanted him to throw himself out of the way, but he knew he would be leaving the little tykes vulnerable. So instead, he Endured the attack, the force of the ball attack throwing the Shedinja back but causing no harm whatsoever. Behind him, he heard the children scream at the new danger and he regained his hover as he regarded his opponent.

Scratch that: opponents.

A trio of Drifloon floated down, their intents obvious as they seemed focused on the youngsters. His strong protective instincts flaring up, Hallow kept himself between the fellow Ghost-types and the tree housing the children, a dark mist beginning to emanate from his body. Said mist took the form of sharp claws, which surged forward and managed to slash into one of them in a Shadow Claw. The Drifloon cried out, falling sharply before regaining its flight.

A dark gust of Ominous Wind flashed in the Shedinja's peripheral vision and he once more put up an Endure, his eyes flashing red for an instant as he used Spite on the attacking balloon. Not an instant later, another Shadow Ball surged towards him from another direction and he barely managed to Endure that as well.

He was outnumbered and he knew one hit was all it took to end this. Refocusing his attention on the weakened Drifloon, he once more launched a Shadow Claw to finish it off, watching the fainted Pokemon float slowly to the ground. The other balloons were about to retaliate when a wave of Psychic energy smashed into them, Hallow's Wonder Guard defending him from the sweeping attack.

Aura immediately teleported by her partner's side to further protect the children, a Shadow Ball forming ominously in her paw as she glared at the Drifloon. She wasn't one to enjoy battle, but she knew this situation more than warranted it. Encouraged by his friend's presence, Hallow also prepared another Shadow Claw in his own threat.

Thankfully, the Drifloon weren't too inclined to push their assault and they silently retreated from the scene, no doubt to return to Barty's Bluff. Both the defending Pokemon relaxing as they watched their opponents leave, Aura flashed her buddy a smile before turning to the little ones.

"Hey, you guys alright?" she asked as she lowered herself onto her knees, the shivering kids obviously terrified by the battle, but more at ease in her presence. After all, even at their young age, the Shroom-lings knew Abra were not malicious Pokemon at all. They each nodded uncertainly as they kept a wary eye on Hallow, for although the insect had saved them from the potential kidnappers, they still didn't trust him not to eat them. Catching this, Aura grinned and made no hesitation in her reassurance. "Don't worry, he's my friend. He won't hurt you."

"Are you sure?" the lead Shroomish asked, still visibly shaken by this whole experience.

"Positive. In fact," She gestured for Hallow to turn his back on her and he did so. The kids cried out in fearful warning that her soul would be taken, but she paid no heed as she reached inside the living exoskeleton, seemed to undo something within, and then pulled out a small round object. A mochi. "See? He has yummy treats inside of him!" She took a bite to emphasize her point. "You guys can have some if you come out."

Confused, but encouraged, one of the Shroomish kids hesitantly stepped towards their saviors. The others watched carefully as their companion approached the Abra and Shedinja with cautious strides. Smiling gently, Aura gently picked up the little Pokemon and held him closer to the Shedinja's back. The little guy visibly tensed and the Abra quickly reassured him.

"Go ahead, take a look. It's alright."

Hesitantly, the little Shroom-ling looked into the hole, ready to make a run for it if he felt even the slightest bit of a funny feeling. He didn't know what soul-snatching would feel like, but he assumed it wouldn't be pleasant. However, nothing horrible happened and instead his eyes widened not in fear, but in childish joy.

For within this ghostly shell, there was indeed more mochi and a lot of candy that the Abra had hoarded inside.

"Wow! He does have treats!" the little guy exclaimed.

At once, the hungry children rushed from their hiding place, eagerly gathering around for some much-needed food.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Aura said as she put the first Shroomish down amongst the others. "There's enough for everyone." She removed her stored food from Hallow's back and gave each of the bouncing kids an equal share. Soon, everyone has calmed down as quiet _nom_'s filled the air, Aura and Hallow patiently standing guard over the little ones.

Finishing first, the lead Shroomish turned back to the older Pokemon, a curious (if not wary) question coming from his mouth. "We always heard that Sheddies are bad Pokemon who'll eat us if we look at their backs." He tilted his head, even when his head constituted his whole body, resulting in a rather comical image of him almost toppling over. "How come we're not eated yet?"

Giving a chuckle, Aura knew they needed a bit more reassurance to feel safe about the matter and she was more than happy to explain. "'Cause Hallow's a good Sheddy. And he thinks kids taste yucky, like broccoli."

Of course, she didn't go into full detail of her companion's prey preferences and the process of soul-stealing, but it was enough to put their little minds at ease as they giggled. Although one of them looked a bit bothered by a single aspect of the explanation.

"I don't taste like broccoli…"

This earned a few more giggles from the now-relaxed children, each gathering around the ghostly bug on the chance that they'll get more snacks. However, further snackage had to wait as Aura took another mental scan of the area. Nothing threatening, but it was best to get out of here before the Drifloon returned with possible reinforcements.

Standing up and dusting herself off, she beckoned the kids to follow her lead. "C'mon, kiddos. Let's get you back home."

"Okay!" they all exclaimed at the same time, following their saviors if not for the safety, than for the prospect of having more mochi on the way back.

* * *

"So, this is the Sapling Village Barty's Bluff?" Aura said, looking up at the former establishment of transportation. It used to be run by Barty the Drifblim and his fleet of Drifloon, each and every one always willing to carry Pokemon to wherever they needed to go, for free nonetheless. But apparently, Barty has mysteriously disappeared and in his absence came this whole mess.

Although she had seen the building on a few maps of the Village and knew many who made use of its services, the young Abra has never actually found use in it herself, as her Teleporting abilities were more than efficient enough to get her and her partner where they needed to go. Yes, she's visited Sapling Village on a few rare occasions, but hadn't paid any attention to this building. As such, it was like she was seeing it for the very first time; unfortunately, this first impression was pretty underwhelming. The board wasn't kidding when they requested this place to be fixed up. The main dome that made up the building seemed about to crumble, and the Drifloon mascot that was supposed to be on the roof was lying deflated on the ground.

She glanced over to Hallow, who busied himself in keeping an eye on the rest of the village, no doubt on alert for the Drifloon. Taking note, she kept her mental sweep on an almost paranoid level even as she remained focus on the task at hand. They really oughta get started now...

Her feet refused to move her anywhere and she sighed a bit as her eyes began to feel heavy. Even her voice started to sound weary, as if all her previous energy was being sapped away. "I'm gonna be honest," Aura started, slumping noticeably. "The very thought of manual labor makes me sleepy."

"Everything makes you sleepy." Hallow reminded, ceasing his surveillance to look at her.

"Well, moreso than usual," Aura clarified. "Plus those kids really took it out of me..."

"You're just being lazy." Hallow stated, his tone suggesting that he would be smiling if he could.

"That too." The Abra admitted with a smile, holding her paws behind her head with a flick of her tail. "But unfortunately, this thing isn't gonna get done just by staring at it; my Psychic powers haven't developed _that_ much yet. So," she drawled, holding back a yawn as she fought her tired mind. "Let's get this over with so I can sleep..."

Finally getting herself to move forward into the building, she surveyed the damage at a closer level, rummaging through some of the rubble. Looking up at the ceiling, she saw where the beams were once connected and she took a few steps back. The blue haze of psychic energy emanated from the little fox, the same glow coming from a large rafter. Shaking a bit, as if under strain, the support slowly lifted up into the air and positioned itself where it used to be.

Gritting her teeth with effort, she waved at Hallow, who made no hesitation in flying up to where the beam was hovering. Several tools given to them by the residents beforehand removed themselves from within his body in a purple haze and immediately set to work. He tried making this fast, as he knew that Aura couldn't maintain this for long. Even by Abra standards, her telekinesis was pretty underdeveloped. After a bit, he backed away with a signaling flash of his halo and Aura hastily cut off her psychic hold. Thankfully, the support held in place.

Rubbing her head a bit at the start of a migraine, she knew this was going to be a long night...

* * *

"And we're pretty much done..." Aura muttered, her tail dragging behind her. Unable to conjure up any more telekinetic energy, the Abra kneeled down to pick up a large bag of trash and heaved it into her arms with a strained grunt, heading towards their designated dumpster with haste. Seeing this, Hallow hesitated after reattaching the last of the mascot's roof fasteners as he watched the Abra with an air of confusion.

"You do know there's an easier way over there, right?" the insect pointed out, turning towards the shorter path towards the dumpster. However, Aura didn't even bother glancing over her shoulder as she continued walking her way with unfaltering purpose, only giving a single explanation.

"I'm too lazy to turn around…" she told him in a tired tone of voice. Again, the husk paused, trying to make some sense out of this logic.

"So... Out of sheer laziness... you're opting to go the longer, harder route? Simply because you can't get yourself to change course?" He got a nod in response, the little Psychic still not stopping. "How does that even work?"

"I have no ideaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHH!" The Abra screamed in horror as something wrapped around her waist and lifted her right into the air, the bag of trash falling out of her grip with a sound _thud!_ onto the pathway. Looking up to see a Drifloon before turning her wide eyes to the ground below, Aura's combined fear of heights and ghosts took a firm hold on her body and she froze, tears of pure terror beginning to build up. She couldn't even get her voice to work enough to call for help, only soft whimpers escaping from her throat.

But a cry was not needed as an angry flash of white light signaled her rescue. Hallow flew up with an enraged shriek, a Shadow Claw rushing to slash into the offending Drifloon. The ghostly balloon cried out, almost losing its grip on Aura. It was about to retaliate, but the Shedinja was relentless in the protection of his friend as he lunged with another Shadow Claw. The Drifloon barely moved out of the way in time to dodge, launching a defensive Shadow Ball.

Only just managing to Endure in time, Hallow instantly used Spite, still growling even as he shouted out to his stunned companion. "Aura! Snap out of it and Teleport!"

But it seemed that the Abra didn't hear him, still staring at the ground far below. Cursing softly, Hallow lunged again with an X-Scissor, this time hitting home and the Drifloon was forced to release the young Pokemon. Falling towards the ground, Aura was still in a daze and Hallow dove for her, barely catching her in his telekinetic hold. He wasn't as strong with his mental capabilities as Aura, and he grunted with strain as he began easing her back to the ground. However, he was forced to drop her the last few feet as the weakened Drifloon launched an Ominous Wind at him, the Shedinja Enduring it once more.

The impact with the ground had snapped Aura out of her state of paralyzing fear, and she was beginning to stand, only getting as far as her hands and knees before another Drifloon loomed over her. Looking up, she froze as the Ghost-type used Hypnosis, its swaying motions blurring as its whispering voice sang out.

_"Come, little children  
I'll take thee away  
Into a land of Enchantment_

_Come, little children_  
_The time's come to play_  
_Here in my garden of Magic..."_

Unable to resist the hypnotism, Aura's eyes began glazing over as she crawled closer to the demonic balloon. It would seem like she no longer had any control over her actions, the Drifloon maintaining its grasp as it began leading her away.

"AURA, DON'T LISTEN TO IT!" Hallow shrieked as he finished off the distracting Drifloon before charging at full-force and slamming into the hypnotizer. Said balloon cried out, releasing its trance-inducing hold as it turned its attention to the Shedinja. It attempted to use Hypnosis again, but Hallow wasn't having it as he lashed out with an X-Scissor. Although it made contact, it came at a price as another Drifloon arrived at the scene and took advantage of the husk's distraction to launch a Shadow Ball.

Hallow had no time to put up an Endure and took the hit full-on. The ball disintegrating, everything was quiet as Hallow floated completely still, fresh burns visible on his shell. Although he tried his best to hang in there, he couldn't fight his weakness and with a shudder, he collapsed to the ground.

"HALLOW!" Aura screamed, the horror snapping her fully out of the Hypnosis' lingering effects. Glaring heatedly at the ghosts, she gathered every bit of her Psychic power and unleashed it on the Drifloon. Cries of pain sounded from the Balloon Pokemon, and as the wave of blue energy faded, a good portion of them fainted whilst a few stronger ones held on.

Breathing heavily, Aura felt her headache increase to a nearly unbearable level and her body was beginning to shake. It took all her willpower to stay upright, wincing as she glared up at the remaining ghosts. "What's _wrong_ with you guys...? The Bluff falls apart and you lose your minds... Stop using it as an excuse and get your act together!" She rubbed her head and she pointed to the Bluff. "It's fixed now... So stop it, before it gets out of hand."

She didn't even know if the Drifloon were listening as she felt a wave of dizziness and fell over, her vision slowly enveloping in blackness. The last thing she saw were the remaining Drifloon floating closer...

* * *

_"The Abra's coming around."_

_"See? I told you she just needed rest."_

_"That's good."_

Aura heard the voices first, before her mind's eye picked up her surroundings to see a bunch of little Shroomish gathered around her, along with an adult Shroomish that she recognized as Shroomsworth. And behind them was...

She jolted up with a cry, her eyes wide as she stared at the Drifloon behind them and Shroomsworth immediately spoke up. "It's alright! Everything's back to normal now."

It took a long moment as Aura stared at the balloon, taking note of the brown pilot hat on the ghost's head. The Drifloon's tiny mouth curled in a smile and the Abra forced herself to relax just a little bit. But that little bit didn't disguise her strong unease and the Balloon Pokemon spoke in a soft, reassuring voice.

"I humbly apologize on the behalf of the Drifleet," he started. "When the Bluff fell apart, we thought our jobs had come to an end and we decided to go back to our natural life-style. None of it was personal to you or your friend, child." The ghost twined its heart-tipped arms in appeasement and gratitude. "But now that you fixed it up, our jobs have been restored and no one need fear us anymore. Thank you."

"Er..." Aura stuttered, surprised that everything turned out for the best after all. "You're welcome, I guess..." She looked about her surroundings for the first time since waking, and found that she was on a bed in a warm and comforting room. Judging from the appearance, it's probably the room of one of the Shroomish kids. After orientating herself, her ears shot up as she remembered something important. "Where's Hallow?!"

"Relax, he's fine." Shroomsworth reassured. "After the Drifloon brought you two in, we wasted no time in treating your friend's injuries." The Grass-type offered a small smile. "And he's recovering very well. If you like, we can take you into the next room to see him."

"That would be good," Aura stated with little hesitation, sitting up even more. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Helping the young Pokemon off the bed, they led her into the room across the hall and Aura was relieved to see Hallow still in one piece on the bed. She wasted no time hurrying to him, wondering if he was still unconscious. A quick glance at the halo above his head showed that he was just beginning to come to.

"Hallow? Hallow, can you hear me?" she asked, poking at the shell gently. She perked her ears when she saw the Shedinja's halo glow a bit brighter and she knew he finally woke up. The living husk didn't move for a moment as he focused his vision and gathered his strength. Then, he used his ghostly energy to prop himself up a bit, staring at the Abra.

"Aura? What's going on? Where are we?"

"Safe, buddy," the little Psychic reassured, the Shroomish and Drifloon behind her nodding. "You feeling alright?"

"Yes," Hallow answered, looking at the fellow ghost warily. The Drifloon lowered a bit in a nonthreatening gesture and with it, the Shedinja realized that everything must be back to normal now. And that was further confirmed when a grin spread on Aura's face.

"We completed another mission, buddy!" she exclaimed. "Sure, it could've been smoother, but it got done! When you get well enough, why don't we celebrate with the consumption of mochi of the Oran Berry variety!" Although the Shedinja couldn't eat such a thing, it didn't stop her from making the offer, finding herself very hungry after such a difficult night.

And it held the added benefit of lightening the insect's mood, Hallow giving a light chuckle as his empty body leaned forward a bit in a nod. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

Yeah, this isn't as well-written as my usual stories, but these _were_ done on a time limit. I hope any readers out there enjoyed this and will review!


End file.
